January 28, 2009

Aerial acrobat falls to his death

By Calvin Palmer
An aerial acrobat died yesterday after falling during a Cirque du Soleil-type performance at a golf tournament dinner in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Jose Angel Vera, 33, of San Diego fell while attempting to unravel his body from a sash while suspended in the air as part of the Aerial Artistry performance, said Scottsdale police Sgt. [...]

January 28, 2009

Starbucks announces 300 stores to close with loss of 6,700 jobs

By Calvin Palmer
Starbucks customers may have to travel further to get their favorite latte as 2009 unfolds.  The coffee company today confirmed it is closing 300 underperforming stores, 200 of them in the United States.
In job terms, it could mean shedding 6,700 positions, as the company tries to counter falling consumer demand.
The company’s Seattle headquarters [...]

January 28, 2009

Family at Wilmington shooting heavily in debt, say police

By Calvin Palmer
Los Angeles police say a man who apparently shot himself after killing his wife and their five children was awash in debt and planning to leave California.
Detective David Cortez today said that Ervin Lupoe was at least one month behind on his mortgage. He says the 40-year-old Lupoe owed at least $15,000 to [...]

January 28, 2009

Teenage girl makes plea deal in videotaped beating of cheerleader

By Calvin Palmer
One of five Florida teenage girls facing charges in the beating of a cheerleader, which they planned to broadcast on the Internet, today pleaded guilty at a court in Bartow.
Mercades Nichols, 18, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery under a plea bargain that saw prosecutors agree to drop felony kidnapping and witness tampering charges.  [...]

January 28, 2009

Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player dies of suspected heart attack

By Calvin Palmer
A keyboard player with the legendary Jacksonville rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has died at his home in northeast Florida.
Billy Powell called 911 about 12:55 a.m. today saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m., said Orange Park Police Lt. Mark Cornett.
Powell, 56, who [...]

January 28, 2009

Russia responds to the Obama effect and suspends missile deployment

By Calvin Palmer
Russia’s plans to deploy missiles in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, as a response to the missile shield proposed by the Bush administration, have been put on hold.
President Dmitri Medvedev ordered Iskander missiles to be placed in Kaliningrad in a speech made the day after Barack Obama’s election victory last November.
Russia objected to [...]

January 28, 2009

Royal Navy’s most advanced destroyer HMS Daring sails into home port

By Calvin Palmer
The world’s most advanced destroyer, the Royal Navy’s HMS Daring, sailed into its home port of Portsmouth for the first time today.
The 7,350-tonne vessel, built at a cost of of £1 billion ($1.4 billion), was handed over to the Royal Navy last month after work was completed at the BVT Surface Fleet’s Scotstoun [...]